The Scene: Hard Tea at San Diego Gay Pride

Words by David Moretti

There are two kinds of party goers in the gayborhood: dancing circuit queens and guys who like to stand and model. It's rare for any party to satisfy both ends, but Hard Tea during San Diego Gay Pride weekend somehow managed to blend both worlds in a seamless harmony that would make even neutral Switzerland tap its foot to the beat.

Check out photos and the full report below...

For the chatty Cathys, there was a gorgeous rooftop pool with sweeping views overlooking downtown San Digeo and beyond. Hot, shirtless men, tattooed bears, cubs, twinks, muscle boys, and queens all sipped cocktails under the sun, eying each other with that certain balls-out ego that Pride delivers. That sexy sensibility was further coaxed on by the ever-sexy, DJ Bill Bouvier, who we recently spotlighted.

In a kind of Heaven and Hell contrast, down below was the loud dark circuit party, with DJ Derek Montiero and DJ Shane Stiel on two different floors, offering different options for your listening pleasure. And for visual pleasure, shirts were all but non-existent in the bouncy sea of sexy men on the dance floor. In fact, stitch for stich, there were even less clothes worn in this underground dance den then in the pool. The only thing lower in percentage than clothing was body fat.

Drinks were flowing, EVERYONE was dancing, and you couldn't hear a damn thing besides your own thoughts. Because of this, these gays got creative with their "circuit sign language." Basically, this involves ass grabs, lip locks, and eye winks, followed by a micro relationship that lasted as long as the song or their own attention span— which, let's be honest— is small.

But in these lower areas is anyone really there to talk politics over 'tea' and crumpets? I think not.

Bottom line, everyone was having fun, jumping up and down, and enjoying a party that really offered something for every kind of gay in the crowd.